The election of a new mayor "is not going to make that much of a difference in the way we operate day to day," city manager Mark Rees told participants in the League of Young Voters' Portland 101 program last week. Rees, who took over for former manager Joe Gray this summer, said he is still learning the ropes. But he noted that having an elected mayor serve as an "advocate for the city" in Augusta and Washington DC will be advantageous — political bigwigs "would much rather talk with an elected official," he said, as opposed to the apolitical manager. He described his position as the city's "CEO," with the mayor as "chief lobbyist."

Another boon of the elected mayor position? The annual "goal-setting session" that is listed among the mayor's powers and duties in the amended city charter — "to discuss and identify the city's . . . priorities in order to provide guidance for the city manager." Meanwhile, the city manager is tasked with preparing a "five-year rolling capital improvement plan" for the city, a/k/a a list of specific priority projects and how much they will cost. This is "standard practice in most well-run municipalities," Rees said.

Under the new manager-mayor relationship, the mayor is able to "consult with and provide guidance" on city budgets, but "it's still the city manager's budget," Rees says. However, don't expect a pissing contest. Rees acknowledged that it is in his "best interest to listen and listen seriously" to the mayor's input.

Speaking of the budget, Rees presented the group (we got to sit in the councilor's seats in city council chambers!) with charts and graphs outlining some of Portland's revenues and expenses. The total city budget is just over $2 million, we learned, with about one-third of that coming from taxes (Rees admitted that our tax rate is high) and the other two-thirds coming from charges for services, grants, and other sources. As proportions of the general fund budget, top expenditures are: debt services, health and human services, employee benefits, public works, the fire department, and the police department.

Portland 101-ers were surprised to learn that the city manages (and pays for) its own golf course (Riverside). Rees was too, when he came on board. To that end, a private company may soon be contracted to run the course. As for other efficiency measures? The precedent-setting relationship between Rees and the elected mayor may dictate those.

A defiant mayor in a defaulting city It's been a year since the state appointed a receiver to take control of a nearly insolvent Central Falls and Mayor Charles Moreau, reduced to a mere figurehead, rides shotgun in a blue Chevy Impala — surveying all that he's lost.

Getting our sh%& straight For the second week in a row, as part of the League of Young Voters' Portland 101 program, I got to visit a smelly and treacherous location, all in the name of getting (and sharing with you, reader!) a behind-the-scenes glimpse of our city's inner-workings.

Burning up the house "Lots of ribbin' and kiddin' goes on here," said deputy fire chief David Pendleton of the loooooong dining table upstairs at the Portland Fire Department's Bramhall Station.

Talking trash with the League The second site visit of the League of Young Voters' Portland 101 program, which Jeff Inglis outlined last week (see " Young Activists Explore Police Department ," September 23), took the group to ecomaine, the non-profit waste management facility located off outer Congress Street.

ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE | July 24, 2014 When three theater companies, all within a one-hour drive of Portland, choose to present the same Shakespeare play on overlapping dates, you have to wonder what about that particular show resonates with this particular moment.

CHECKING IN: THE NEW GUARD AND THE WRITER'S HOTEL | July 11, 2014 Former Mainer Shanna McNair started The New Guard, an independent, multi-genre literary review, in order to exalt the writer, no matter if that writer was well-established or just starting out.

NO TAR SANDS | July 10, 2014 “People’s feelings are clear...they don’t want to be known as the tar sands capitol of the United States."